CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's basketball (1-0) captured its first victory of the 2021-22 campaign, 68-45, over the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (UHSP in St. Louis) (1-3) Tuesday evening at the Show Me Center.
 
Three Redhawks finished in double-figures including a team-high 14 points and four rebounds from Roshala Scott. Freshman Kennedi Watkins chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds in her first career start. Deanay Watson also finished with a career-best tying 12 points and five boards.
 
SEMO opened the contest with a 14-3 lead after buckets from Michaela Mayfield and Taelour Pruitt.
 
Grace Beyer, a 2020-21 NAIA All-American, posted a lay-up to cut the SEMO edge to 25-18 to conclude the first quarter.
 
Beyer finished with a game-high 31 points, shooting 11-for-27 from the field in 36 minutes. She had 18 points in the first half.
 
SEMO then widened its margin with a 15-5 second quarter.
 
Watson laid-in a bucket off the glass to bring the SEMO advantage to 40-23 at the break. 
 
Watkins then converted a 3-pointer at 3:22 in the third quarter to push the Redhawks margin to 52-31.
 
She then registered a three-point play to make the lead 59-34 with less than a minute remaining in the third stanza.
 
The Redhawks then struggled in the final quarter, being outscored 9-7 in the last 10 minutes of play.
 
Scott's free throw at 8:37 provided the Redhawks their largest lead of the night, 64-36.
 
SEMO outshot UHSP, 43.1 percent to 33.3 percent, including a 57 percent clip in the third quarter.
 
The Redhawks benefited from 40 points in the paint, 19 off turnovers and 11 second chance opportunities.
 
Shymaryia Christopher and Jaliyah Green also both made their first career collegiate starts in the victory. Christopher finished with eight points while Green had five.
 
Halle Smith, Johné Stewart and Kori Tomlin also made their Redhawk debuts. Tomlin led all SEMO players with 25 minutes.
 
Pruitt dished out a career-best matching seven assists to accompany eight points.
 
SEMO limited its turnovers to nine compared to UHSP's 20. The Redhawks also forced 13 steals.
 
The Redhawks will travel to Texas for a pair of non-conference games. SEMO will face Stephen F. Austin, Monday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Nacogdoches, Texas, before heading to Austin to take on Texas Wednesday, Nov. 17.